Australian Parliament building
Australia's House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill to ban children younger than 16 years old from social media, leaving it to the Senate to finalize what would be the first law of this nature, globally.
The bill, which received overwhelming support, passed 102 to 13.
The major parties backed the legislative measure that would make platforms, including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram liable for fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars for systemic failures to prevent young children from holding accounts.
If the bill becomes law this week, the platforms would have one year to work out how to implement the age restrictions before penalties are enforced.
Opposition lawmaker Dan Tehan told the House that the government had agreed to accept amendments in the Senate to bolster privacy protections.
Social media platforms would not be allowed to compel users to provide government-issued identity documents, including passports or driver’s licenses. The platforms also could not demand digital identification through a government system.
SOURCE: AP
comments powered by Disqus
All feeds
